DIY Gym Cable Machine - Full Build Log - Part 2of4

DIY Home Gym Adjustable Pulley Cable Machine Build Log
Part 2 of 4 - Continuing Fabrication
Here's a video log of how I built my own adjustable cable machine for my home gym. These are widely available online but I couldn't find the one for me:
- Very expensive - £475 was the cheapest retail machine I could find with a rotating and height adjustable pulley.
- Size - You'll see in the video that my home gym is not the biggest! All of the retail machines I found we're totally floor standing and as such had large footprints to prevent them from tipping over. They would've taken up far too much space in my gym.
- Capacity - All the adjustable retail units that I could find used weight stacks and the cheapest maxed out at around 70KG which is fine for most exercises but could easily be exceeded for lat work and there didn't seem to be any way to increase the maximum weight capacity.
My design uses 1" bars to hold the weights so it can take standard home gym weight plates which you've probably already got and can be bought for next to nothing on ebay. As such it also has finer increments for weight adjustments which make it ideal for light weight rehab work.
I'd like others to have a go at building one of these (or two for a crossover!) for their own home gyms. I had intended for the videos to be a full tutorial for anyone to have a go but realistically I think a maker would need to have some basic/intermediate DIY/fabrication experience, as although I've made sure to include all of the important steps, I can't possibly cover 100%. Also, for the significant cost savings to be viable, you'd need to already have a well stocked set of tools as you see me use in the video. That being said, I would invite anyone to give it a go!
My design DWG file and a PDF print are available below:
PDF: drive.google.com/open?id=1106...
DWG: drive.google.com/open?id=1NVV...
The PDF is intended as an overview only. If you're going to build this then you will need to use the DWG file so you can take precise measurements and prints as and when you need them throughout the build. If you don't have AutoCAD to view the file then you can download TrueView for free from the AutoDesk website which will let you measure and print as needed.
Basic Materials List:
40x40x2mm Mild steel welded box section for the main frame
50x50x2mm Mild steel welded box section for the weight plate mount and pulley mount
3mm Thick mild steel sheet for the base and all other plate pieces you see
1" 14AWG Mild steel tube for the weight plates
M10 Part-threaded bolts, nuts, washers, rod etc
Steel sleeves, M10 internal, 15mm external
95mm Pulleys, M10 hole. Pack of 10 from Ebay Hong Kong seller
Plastic coated wire rope, 5mm overall diameter
8mm detent pin to secure the pulley assembly to its various heights on the frame
Split pins to secure the pulley assembly hinge pin
5mm Wire rope clamps and carabiner
40mmx40mm Box section plastic end caps
2mm Plastic sheet to sleeve the weight and pulley assemblies
Etch primer and gloss black top coat (approx 800ml of each)
4mm Thick mild steel spacer washers used to space pulleys from the frame according to the designs
With the exception of the main steel order, all other parts were from ebay.
Total material cost £196.92
I'll provide more details on all of the above if needed.

[@desisher5292]

0:56. What DIY person has welding equipment in their homes?

[@RandomChannel967]

Me DIY person has. And I'd guess a few million other makers also have welders, or would consider buying one as it would likely end up paying for itself after a couple of projects. I paid less for my first welder than I paid for my first cordless drill.

[@grevisfilter]

I do.

[@walterrojas1075]

I do...

[@mightymenfitness]

I do

[@pooracademy]

It was very good congratulations and thank you for sharing with us all'm from Brazil and became a fan of his work.

[@NMranchhand]

Good call on clamping the Death Stars. I went to the ER over that once.

[@rogeriosilva1809]

Muito bom este trabalho..parabéns pela iniciativa .

[@pratiks6290]

Tysm for your support ❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏 keep makeing videos

[@ashishpatki6860]

Really Its great work, I will Make This

[@asadullahasad4887]

Great job

[@mohammedchettouhe1985]

Thanks a lot please how long and to display each piece

[@peterh6023]

Wheels of steel😉

[@jr2progressive]

nice

[@jamiefrench8934]

What a great build. Thank you.How much weight can you safely lift with this? The sleeve in which the weights mount to, and which slides up and down the upright...have you had any issues with this rubbing/ catching?Thanks again, loved the build.

[@RandomChannel967]

Hi, thanks for the compliments! I can't give you a definite answer on the max weight, I've had it up to 100kg and it wasn't under any strain at all(I was!). If you think about it, the points of failure on this are the welds, the puleys or the wire rope clamps (the wire rope itself is rated at 400kg+). I know my welds are good, as are the wire rope clamps so that just leaves the pulleys, but it's up to you how much load you want to put on those. Personally I'd be happy running this at 200kg without concern. The sleeves on the weight carriage are fine as long as you build it accurately. it's very important that the centre point of the weight bars is perfectly in-line with the cable attachment point and the point at which the wire rope exits the top pulley so that there's no sideways strain on the sleeves when you lift the weights. If this arrangement isn't aligned properly then you'd be lighting the weights off their centre of gravity and the sleeves would be taking excess load, the friction will wear away the paint first and then the plastic sleeves.

[@RandomChannel967]

Just to add, you won't have any issues with the sleeves in the pulley assembly as they only move when you adjust the pulley, they're stationary when the machine is actually under load.

[@jamiefrench8934]

Thank you for the responses, looking forward to building something similar!

[@pooracademy]

i was wondering if you have the project in PDF or you can share the action with us if you can help with this I would be very grateful.

[@RandomChannel967]

Yes, the link to the drawings is in the video description. I would also recommend that you translate the description to read as there is information in there that is not in the videos.

[@pooracademy]

friend I can not get the link but thank you for the help and enjoyed much of its success to work vc

[@pooracademy]

if you can send me by whatsapp or email photos or PDF. whatsapp [phone]. email [e-mail]. help me too thank you

[@brandondavison8982]

RandomChannel967 can you send me the plans by email? My email is [e-mail]. Great job! I have decided to build rather than buy. Thanks!

[@siyahbayrakl1202]

3.32 pleksiglass?
Mow many thick pleksiglass mm?

[@yaberalij7508]

My design DWG file and a PDF print are available through the below link:
did not work for me any one pls

[@RandomChannel967]

I've updated the links, they should work now.

[@rishabhpanchal8051]

Welding with that drawing underneath was dangerous

[@rojihrojih316]

Cakep👉👍

[@nihonix5505]

Extra

[@rhenschesternavalescandela8747]

yeah put ur diagram at the bottom will ya so u can burn it while you weld geez other than that nice project

[@RandomChannel967]

.....and yet it seems like everything worked out just fine. Focus on the bigger picture Chester, geez.

[@devaoable1]

Cara meia boca!soltando em cima dos desenhos slc

[@jefgir]

Tinha que ser BR vir falar merda né. E é soldando, não soltando.

[@JP-Gil]

@@jefgir Verdade, o cara sabe nem escrever direito e ainda quer desqualificar o trabalho excepcional que o camarada fez gratuitamente e ainda disponibilizou todo material. Ridículo isso!

[@akinfitness346]

Ne bok yaptigini anlayamadık

[@yaberalij7508]

My design DWG file and a PDF print are available through the below link:
did not work for me any one pls

[@RandomChannel967]

I've updated the links, they should work now.